The Textual Construction of a Holy Place. The Example of Kondžilo

Abstract

In this article I tried to analyze all available records about the saga of the painting of Our Lady from Kondžilo. On the basis of their textual and contextual analysis I tried to offer some new insights. According to division of the oral literature by Vlajko Palavestra the saga of the painting of Madonna from Kondžilo belongs to the thematic group of historical-religious sagas. The story begins on the 7th September 1779, when Bishop Mark Dobretić visited Komušina. This is the first written record of the  ainting of Our Lady of Kondžilo. Although it can be assumed that this is the same figure, which is still located in Komušina and carried to Kondžilo, it is not explicitly stated in this record. After that no one wrote about that painting until 1877, when English  archaeologist, writer and adventurer Arthur J. Evans, published the book: Walking Through Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ten years after Evans we have the first written record of the saga that explains the „arrival“ of the painting to Komušina and the begining of pilgrimage to Kondžilo. Pastor of Komušina, Blaž Ikić, in two brief articles in the Journal of the Yugoslav Franciscans from 1888 wrote about his trip in 1887 with the pastor from Sivša, Jozo Ilaković and pastor from Žabljak, Ambraz Rajković, to the village of Mrkotić with the intention to learn more about the saga (Ikić 1888: 137). The priest heard about the saga from some older people from the parish Komušina, where the painting by then was revered for more than a hundred years. From this short saga we learned a lot of information: the painting is not from Komušina, but actualy from Mrkotić, a remote Muslim village three hours’ walk away. She was kept in the family granary of Kapetanović, who later became Capljić. The painting was  found by their ancestor hedges in their fields. Immediately after her finding, the painting was damaged by a Gypsy who was passing by and struck the painting with a nadzak recognizing the „Vlach Lady“. As long as the painting was in their property, everything was going excellent for them, their fields where flourishing, they had protection from hail and an inexhaustible source of food. But, the Muslim saint commanded them that they have to sell the painting to Catholics, but not for money. They had to sell it for rams, steers and cattle. It is impossible to know what version of saga priest Ikić learned in Komušina, and what version in Mrkotic, and which elements he added after their trip to Mrkotic. According to saga, after peasents from Komušina purchased the painting, they took Our Lady their village. During the journey, on the mountain Kondžilo, the painting became so heavy that even a large number of people could not carry it. Surprised by this miracle, the peasents made a vow in which they promised that they would build a chapel in that place, and every year on the Feast of the Assumption (August 15th) carry the painting to that site. Another record of the saga was made by Franjo Hamerle in 1907. in the Calendar of the Heart of Jesus and Mary. Using the older record made by Ikić, and adding some new elements that made the saga look more archaic, Hamerle  created a new saga, which then started an independent life from the author. However, what happened twenty years later, gave a new dimension to the Hamerle construction. In 1924, the Komušina Pastor Ivan Mitrović published a booklet entitled „Our  Miraculous Lady from Kondžilo“. This book is actually a reprint of Hamerle`s 1907. article. Through these two reprints in the period from 1924. until today (2011) the book, with a saga that is constructed by Hamerle, came into the hands of a large number of pilgrims who have gone to pilgrimage to Kondžilo. Many pilgrims learned about the saga indirectly, through the pilgrims who have read the book, and then talked about the saga when they went back home. With each new record the saga  as taking new elements, leading to re-imaging of the shrine. Pilgrims who came into contact with these sagas accepted them as  historically accurate and, based on them, created their perception of that holy place, giving it, mostly because of the saga,  the miraculous meaning.